Automatic determination of code customizations

ABSTRACT

A system could include a first set of mappings between application files and version indicators. The application files could be related to a software application. The system could also include a second set of mappings between application files and a first subset of version indicators, where a standardized release of the software application includes application file versions in accordance with the first subset. The system could further include a third set of mappings between a second subset of version indicators and records indicating that the corresponding application file versions were written after the standardized release. The system could further include processors configured to perform operations including: determining that an application file in the third set of mappings has standardized release version. The operations could further include providing a difference between a recent version of the application file and the application file version that was part of the standardized release.

BACKGROUND

A remote network management platform could provide various softwareapplications to enterprise customers. Such software applications couldinclude, for example, device and software discovery applications,service mapping applications, information technology (IT) operations andservice management applications, and machine learning applications,among other possibilities. In some cases, users of the remote networkmanagement platform may modify and/or customize these applications.Occasionally, an application provided by the remote network managementplatform has a defect that causes the application to produce anincorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended way. Suchdefects could negatively affect users of the software application. Butdetermining the root cause of the defect can be challenging, especiallywhen users have modified the application.

SUMMARY

Locating a software defect in a software application generallynecessitates an intimate knowledge of the software application's sourcecode. For example, upon receiving a support ticket from a userdescribing unexpected behavior in a software application, an agentassigned to resolve the issue raised by the ticket may locate andexamine portions of the application's source code that encompass theunexpected behavior. If the assigned agent is not otherwise familiarwith the aspects, features and functions in the source code, thistroubleshooting process can become unduly complex and time consuming.

To further complicate matters, some software applications allow users toincorporate custom functionality. This often involves a user modifyingand/or updating a software application's source code to include newfeatures, functions, and other aspects. In such situations,troubleshooting software defects not only involves parsing through the“out of the box” source code, but further involves parsing through thenew source code added by a user.

During empirical investigations, it has been observed that the majority(e.g., perhaps 80% to 90% or more) of support tickets involved softwaredefects that were located in user-modified source code rather than “outof the box” source code. Accordingly, a troubleshooting process couldinvolve first examining user-modified portions of the softwareapplication's source code. However, if the source code is large andcontains many custom changes, the process of locating theseuser-modified portions within the source code may be unduly complicated.

Disclosed herein is an approach to address this technical problem. Inaccordance with the disclosure, a remote network management platform mayinclude a troubleshooting tool that can pinpoint user customizations ina software application's source code. In practice, the troubleshootingtool could have access to data that indicates particular applicationfiles in the software application's source code that have been writtenby a user. The term written, as used herein, refers to application filesthat were modified and/or created by a particular entity, such as a useror another entity. The troubleshooting tool could also have access todata that indicates particular application files in the softwareapplication's source code that were part of a “standardized release” ofthe software application.

The disclosed troubleshooting tool could use such data to identifyrelevant portions of the application files. In the case of anapplication file modified by a user, the relevant portions may byidentified by performing a textual difference between a most recentversion of the application file and a standardized release version ofthe application file. The textual difference may find and then provide arepresentations of edits (e.g., additions, modifications, deletions)made to the standardized release version of the application file thatresult in the most recent version of the file. On the other hand, in thecase of an application file created by user, the relevant portions ofthe application file may be the most recent version of the applicationfile, as a standardized release version of the application file may notexist.

With the relevant portions determined, the troubleshooting tool coulddisplay these relevant portions on a graphical user interface (GUI). Forinstance, the troubleshooting tool could display a list of applicationfiles that have been customized by a user. The list could includeinformation on the creation date of those application files, the lastmodification date of those application files, the user who last updatedthose application files, and so on. Upon a receiving a selection of anapplication file from the list, the troubleshooting tool couldresponsively display the application file in its original state and in acustomized state, with differences between the two states highlighted tohelp pinpoint changes that have been made to the application file. Thedifferences can be viewed as a side by side or in a merged view. Giventhat a software application's source code could contain hundreds, if notthousands of user-modified portions, the troubleshooting tooladvantageously reduces the time it takes to identify user customizationsin the source code. Other advantages may also exist

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve a computing system.The computing system may include persistent storage disposed within acomputational instance of a remote network management platform. Thepersistent storage may contain a first set of mappings betweenidentifiers of application files and version indicators of theapplication files, where the application files are related to a softwareapplication that is executable by the computational instance. Thepersistent storage may further contain a second set of mappings betweenthe identifiers of the application files and a first subset of theversion indicators, where a standardized release of the softwareapplication that was installed on the computational instance includesversions of the application files in accordance with the first subset ofthe version indicators. The persistent storage may yet further contain athird set of mappings between a second subset of the version indicatorsand records indicating that the corresponding application file versionshave been written to the persistent storage after the standardizedrelease of the software application was installed on the computationalinstance. The computing system may also include one or more processorsdisposed within the computational instance and configured to performoperations. These operations may involve determining, based on thesecond of mappings, that an application file of the application filesreferenced by the third set of mappings has a version that was in thestandardized release of the software application. The operations mayalso involve, responsive to determining that the application file doesinclude a version that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication, providing, based on the first set of mappings, a differencebetween a most recent version of the application file and the version ofthe application file that was part of the standardized release.

In a second example embodiment, an article of manufacture may include anon-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon programinstructions that, upon execution by a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform operations in accordance with the firstexample embodiment.

In a third example embodiment, a computing system may include at leastone processor, as well as memory and program instructions. The programinstructions may be stored in the memory, and upon execution by the atleast one processor, cause the computing system to perform operations inaccordance with the first example embodiment.

In a fourth example embodiment, a system may include various means forcarrying out each of the operations of the first example embodiment.

These, as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, andalternatives, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reading the following detailed description, with reference whereappropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, this summary andother descriptions and figures provided herein are intended toillustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, thatnumerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements andprocess steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, orotherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodimentsas claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a computing device, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic drawing of a server device cluster, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a communication environment involving a remote networkmanagement architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5A depicts another communication environment involving a remotenetwork management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a network architecture, in accordance with exampleembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates application files, in accordance with exampleembodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates data that a troubleshooting tool could use duringoperations, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating example operations of atroubleshooting tool, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIGS. 10A and 10B depict web pages, in accordance with exampleembodiments.

FIG. 11 depicts a message flow, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, devices, and systems are described herein. It should beunderstood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodimentor feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments or features unless stated as such. Thus, other embodimentscan be utilized and other changes can be made without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein.

Accordingly, the example embodiments described herein are not meant tobe limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. For example, theseparation of features into “client” and “server” components may occurin a number of ways.

Further, unless context suggests otherwise, the features illustrated ineach of the figures may be used in combination with one another. Thus,the figures should be generally viewed as component aspects of one ormore overall embodiments, with the understanding that not allillustrated features are necessary for each embodiment.

Additionally, any enumeration of elements, blocks, or steps in thisspecification or the claims is for purposes of clarity. Thus, suchenumeration should not be interpreted to require or imply that theseelements, blocks, or steps adhere to a particular arrangement or arecarried out in a particular order.

I. INTRODUCTION

A large enterprise is a complex entity with many interrelatedoperations. Some of these are found across the enterprise, such as humanresources (HR), supply chain, information technology (IT), and finance.However, each enterprise also has its own unique operations that provideessential capabilities and/or create competitive advantages.

To support widely-implemented operations, enterprises typically useoff-the-shelf software applications, such as customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) and human capital management (HCM) packages. However,they may also need custom software applications to meet their own uniquerequirements. A large enterprise often has dozens or hundreds of thesecustom software applications. Nonetheless, the advantages provided bythe embodiments herein are not limited to large enterprises and may beapplicable to an enterprise, or any other type of organization, of anysize.

Many such software applications are developed by individual departmentswithin the enterprise. These range from simple spreadsheets tocustom-built software tools and databases. But the proliferation ofsiloed custom software applications has numerous disadvantages. Itnegatively impacts an enterprise's ability to run and grow itsoperations, innovate, and meet regulatory requirements. The enterprisemay find it difficult to integrate, streamline, and enhance itsoperations due to lack of a single system that unifies its subsystemsand data.

To efficiently create custom applications, enterprises would benefitfrom a remotely-hosted application platform that eliminates unnecessarydevelopment complexity. The goal of such a platform would be to reducetime-consuming, repetitive application development tasks so thatsoftware engineers and individuals in other roles can focus ondeveloping unique, high-value features.

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as aService (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflowsthroughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from theenterprise, but may access data, applications, and services within theenterprise by way of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have anumber of advantageous capabilities and characteristics. Theseadvantages and characteristics may be able to improve the enterprise'soperations and workflows for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, applicationdevelopment, and security.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution ofmodel-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide theirfunctionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, andcontroller) in order to isolate representations of information from themanner in which the information is presented to the user, therebyallowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. Theseapplications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete(CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on acommon application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support standardized application components, suchas a standardized set of widgets for graphical user interface (GUI)development. In this way, applications built using the aPaaS system havea common look and feel. Other software components and modules may bestandardized as well. In some cases, this look and feel can be brandedor skinned with an enterprise's custom logos and/or color schemes.

The aPaaS system may support the ability to configure the behavior ofapplications using metadata. This allows application behaviors to berapidly adapted to meet specific needs. Such an approach reducesdevelopment time and increases flexibility. Further, the aPaaS systemmay support GUI tools that facilitate metadata creation and management,thus reducing errors in the metadata.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces betweenapplications, so that software developers can avoid unwantedinter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement aservice layer in which persistent state information and other data arestored.

The aPaaS system may support a rich set of integration features so thatthe applications thereon can interact with legacy applications andthird-party applications. For instance, the aPaaS system may support acustom employee-onboarding system that integrates with legacy HR, IT,and accounting systems.

The aPaaS system may support enterprise-grade security. Furthermore,since the aPaaS system may be remotely hosted, it should also utilizesecurity procedures when it interacts with systems in the enterprise orthird-party networks and services hosted outside of the enterprise. Forexample, the aPaaS system may be configured to share data amongst theenterprise and other parties to detect and identify common securitythreats.

Other features, functionality, and advantages of an aPaaS system mayexist. This description is for purpose of example and is not intended tobe limiting.

As an example of the aPaaS development process, a software developer maybe tasked to create a new application using the aPaaS system. First, thedeveloper may define the data model, which specifies the types of datathat the application uses and the relationships therebetween. Then, viaa GUI of the aPaaS system, the developer enters (e.g., uploads) the datamodel. The aPaaS system automatically creates all of the correspondingdatabase tables, fields, and relationships, which can then be accessedvia an object-oriented services layer.

In addition, the aPaaS system can also build a fully-functional MVCapplication with client-side interfaces and server-side CRUD logic. Thisgenerated application may serve as the basis of further development forthe user. Advantageously, the developer does not have to spend a largeamount of time on basic application functionality. Further, since theapplication may be web-based, it can be accessed from anyInternet-enabled client device. Alternatively or additionally, a localcopy of the application may be able to be accessed, for instance, whenInternet service is not available.

The aPaaS system may also support a rich set of pre-definedfunctionality that can be added to applications. These features includesupport for searching, email, templating, workflow design, reporting,analytics, social media, scripting, mobile-friendly output, andcustomized GUIs.

Such an aPaaS system may represent a GUI in various ways. For example, aserver device of the aPaaS system may generate a representation of a GUIusing a combination of HTML and JAVASCRIPT®. The JAVASCRIPT® may includeclient-side executable code, server-side executable code, or both. Theserver device may transmit or otherwise provide this representation to aclient device for the client device to display on a screen according toits locally-defined look and feel. Alternatively, a representation of aGUI may take other forms, such as an intermediate form (e.g., JAVA®byte-code) that a client device can use to directly generate graphicaloutput therefrom. Other possibilities exist.

Further, user interaction with GUI elements, such as buttons, menus,tabs, sliders, checkboxes, toggles, etc. may be referred to as“selection”, “activation”, or “actuation” thereof. These terms may beused regardless of whether the GUI elements are interacted with by wayof keyboard, pointing device, touchscreen, or another mechanism.

An aPaaS architecture is particularly powerful when integrated with anenterprise's network and used to manage such a network. The followingembodiments describe architectural and functional aspects of exampleaPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantages thereof.

II. EXAMPLE COMPUTING DEVICES AND CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram exemplifying a computing device100, illustrating some of the components that could be included in acomputing device arranged to operate in accordance with the embodimentsherein. Computing device 100 could be a client device (e.g., a deviceactively operated by a user), a server device (e.g., a device thatprovides computational services to client devices), or some other typeof computational platform. Some server devices may operate as clientdevices from time to time in order to perform particular operations, andsome client devices may incorporate server features.

In this example, computing device 100 includes processor 102, memory104, network interface 106, and input/output unit 108, all of which maybe coupled by system bus 110 or a similar mechanism. In someembodiments, computing device 100 may include other components and/orperipheral devices (e.g., detachable storage, printers, and so on).

Processor 102 may be one or more of any type of computer processingelement, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a co-processor (e.g.,a mathematics, graphics, or encryption co-processor), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a network processor, and/or a form of integratedcircuit or controller that performs processor operations. In some cases,processor 102 may be one or more single-core processors. In other cases,processor 102 may be one or more multi-core processors with multipleindependent processing units. Processor 102 may also include registermemory for temporarily storing instructions being executed and relateddata, as well as cache memory for temporarily storing recently-usedinstructions and data.

Memory 104 may be any form of computer-usable memory, including but notlimited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), andnon-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk drives, solid statedrives, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and/or tapestorage). Thus, memory 104 represents both main memory units, as well aslong-term storage. Other types of memory may include biological memory.

Memory 104 may store program instructions and/or data on which programinstructions may operate. By way of example, memory 104 may store theseprogram instructions on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, suchthat the instructions are executable by processor 102 to carry out anyof the methods, processes, or operations disclosed in this specificationor the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 104 may include firmware 104A, kernel 104B,and/or applications 104C. Firmware 104A may be program code used to bootor otherwise initiate some or all of computing device 100. Kernel 104Bmay be an operating system, including modules for memory management,scheduling and management of processes, input/output, and communication.Kernel 104B may also include device drivers that allow the operatingsystem to communicate with the hardware modules (e.g., memory units,networking interfaces, ports, and buses) of computing device 100.Applications 104C may be one or more user-space software programs, suchas web browsers or email clients, as well as any software libraries usedby these programs. Memory 104 may also store data used by these andother programs and applications.

Network interface 106 may take the form of one or more wirelineinterfaces, such as Ethernet (e.g., Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, andso on). Network interface 106 may also support communication over one ormore non-Ethernet media, such as coaxial cables or power lines, or overwide-area media, such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) ordigital subscriber line (DSL) technologies. Network interface 106 mayadditionally take the form of one or more wireless interfaces, such asIEEE 802.11 (Wifi), BLUETOOTH®, global positioning system (GPS), or awide-area wireless interface. However, other forms of physical layerinterfaces and other types of standard or proprietary communicationprotocols may be used over network interface 106. Furthermore, networkinterface 106 may comprise multiple physical interfaces. For instance,some embodiments of computing device 100 may include Ethernet,BLUETOOTH®, and Wifi interfaces.

Input/output unit 108 may facilitate user and peripheral deviceinteraction with computing device 100. Input/output unit 108 may includeone or more types of input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, and so on. Similarly, input/output unit 108 may include one ormore types of output devices, such as a screen, monitor, printer, and/orone or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally or alternatively,computing device 100 may communicate with other devices using auniversal serial bus (USB) or high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI) port interface, for example.

In some embodiments, one or more computing devices like computing device100 may be deployed to support an aPaaS architecture. The exact physicallocation, connectivity, and configuration of these computing devices maybe unknown and/or unimportant to client devices. Accordingly, thecomputing devices may be referred to as “cloud-based” devices that maybe housed at various remote data center locations.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud-based server cluster 200 in accordance withexample embodiments. In FIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g.,computing device 100) may be distributed between server devices 202,data storage 204, and routers 206, all of which may be connected bylocal cluster network 208. The number of server devices 202, datastorages 204, and routers 206 in server cluster 200 may depend on thecomputing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster 200.

For example, server devices 202 can be configured to perform variouscomputing tasks of computing device 100. Thus, computing tasks can bedistributed among one or more of server devices 202. To the extent thatthese computing tasks can be performed in parallel, such a distributionof tasks may reduce the total time to complete these tasks and return aresult. For purposes of simplicity, both server cluster 200 andindividual server devices 202 may be referred to as a “server device.”This nomenclature should be understood to imply that one or moredistinct server devices, data storage devices, and cluster routers maybe involved in server device operations.

Data storage 204 may be data storage arrays that include drive arraycontrollers configured to manage read and write access to groups of harddisk drives and/or solid state drives. The drive array controllers,alone or in conjunction with server devices 202, may also be configuredto manage backup or redundant copies of the data stored in data storage204 to protect against drive failures or other types of failures thatprevent one or more of server devices 202 from accessing units of datastorage 204. Other types of memory aside from drives may be used.

Routers 206 may include networking equipment configured to provideinternal and external communications for server cluster 200. Forexample, routers 206 may include one or more packet-switching and/orrouting devices (including switches and/or gateways) configured toprovide (i) network communications between server devices 202 and datastorage 204 via local cluster network 208, and/or (ii) networkcommunications between server cluster 200 and other devices viacommunication link 210 to network 212.

Additionally, the configuration of routers 206 can be based at least inpart on the data communication requirements of server devices 202 anddata storage 204, the latency and throughput of the local clusternetwork 208, the latency, throughput, and cost of communication link210, and/or other factors that may contribute to the cost, speed,fault-tolerance, resiliency, efficiency, and/or other design goals ofthe system architecture.

As a possible example, data storage 204 may include any form ofdatabase, such as a structured query language (SQL) database. Varioustypes of data structures may store the information in such a database,including but not limited to tables, arrays, lists, trees, and tuples.Furthermore, any databases in data storage 204 may be monolithic ordistributed across multiple physical devices.

Server devices 202 may be configured to transmit data to and receivedata from data storage 204. This transmission and retrieval may take theform of SQL queries or other types of database queries, and the outputof such queries, respectively. Additional text, images, video, and/oraudio may be included as well. Furthermore, server devices 202 mayorganize the received data into web page or web applicationrepresentations. Such a representation may take the form of a markuplanguage, such as the hypertext markup language (HTML), the extensiblemarkup language (XML), or some other standardized or proprietary format.Moreover, server devices 202 may have the capability of executingvarious types of computerized scripting languages, such as but notlimited to Perl, Python, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Active ServerPages (ASP), JAVASCRIPT®, and so on. Computer program code written inthese languages may facilitate the providing of web pages to clientdevices, as well as client device interaction with the web pages.Alternatively or additionally, JAVA® may be used to facilitategeneration of web pages and/or to provide web application functionality.

III. EXAMPLE REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments. This architecture includes three maincomponents—managed network 300, remote network management platform 320,and public cloud networks 340—all connected by way of Internet 350.

A. Managed Networks

Managed network 300 may be, for example, an enterprise network used byan entity for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage ofdata. Thus, managed network 300 may include client devices 302, serverdevices 304, routers 306, virtual machines 308, firewall 310, and/orproxy servers 312. Client devices 302 may be embodied by computingdevice 100, server devices 304 may be embodied by computing device 100or server cluster 200, and routers 306 may be any type of router,switch, or gateway.

Virtual machines 308 may be embodied by one or more of computing device100 or server cluster 200. In general, a virtual machine is an emulationof a computing system, and mimics the functionality (e.g., processor,memory, and communication resources) of a physical computer. Onephysical computing system, such as server cluster 200, may support up tothousands of individual virtual machines. In some embodiments, virtualmachines 308 may be managed by a centralized server device orapplication that facilitates allocation of physical computing resourcesto individual virtual machines, as well as performance and errorreporting. Enterprises often employ virtual machines in order toallocate computing resources in an efficient, as needed fashion.Providers of virtualized computing systems include VMWARE® andMICROSOFT®.

Firewall 310 may be one or more specialized routers or server devicesthat protect managed network 300 from unauthorized attempts to accessthe devices, applications, and services therein, while allowingauthorized communication that is initiated from managed network 300.Firewall 310 may also provide intrusion detection, web filtering, virusscanning, application-layer gateways, and other applications orservices. In some embodiments not shown in FIG. 3, managed network 300may include one or more virtual private network (VPN) gateways withwhich it communicates with remote network management platform 320 (seebelow).

Managed network 300 may also include one or more proxy servers 312. Anembodiment of proxy servers 312 may be a server application thatfacilitates communication and movement of data between managed network300, remote network management platform 320, and public cloud networks340. In particular, proxy servers 312 may be able to establish andmaintain secure communication sessions with one or more computationalinstances of remote network management platform 320. By way of such asession, remote network management platform 320 may be able to discoverand manage aspects of the architecture and configuration of managednetwork 300 and its components. Possibly with the assistance of proxyservers 312, remote network management platform 320 may also be able todiscover and manage aspects of public cloud networks 340 that are usedby managed network 300.

Firewalls, such as firewall 310, typically deny all communicationsessions that are incoming by way of Internet 350, unless such a sessionwas ultimately initiated from behind the firewall (i.e., from a deviceon managed network 300) or the firewall has been explicitly configuredto support the session. By placing proxy servers 312 behind firewall 310(e.g., within managed network 300 and protected by firewall 310), proxyservers 312 may be able to initiate these communication sessions throughfirewall 310. Thus, firewall 310 might not have to be specificallyconfigured to support incoming sessions from remote network managementplatform 320, thereby avoiding potential security risks to managednetwork 300.

In some cases, managed network 300 may consist of a few devices and asmall number of networks. In other deployments, managed network 300 mayspan multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks andhundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3 is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, depending on the size, architecture, and connectivity ofmanaged network 300, a varying number of proxy servers 312 may bedeployed therein. For example, each one of proxy servers 312 may beresponsible for communicating with remote network management platform320 regarding a portion of managed network 300. Alternatively oradditionally, sets of two or more proxy servers may be assigned to sucha portion of managed network 300 for purposes of load balancing,redundancy, and/or high availability.

B. Remote Network Management Platforms

Remote network management platform 320 is a hosted environment thatprovides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operator ofmanaged network 300. These services may take the form of web-basedportals, for example, using the aforementioned web-based technologies.Thus, a user can securely access remote network management platform 320from, for example, client devices 302, or potentially from a clientdevice outside of managed network 300. By way of the web-based portals,users may design, test, and deploy applications, generate reports, viewanalytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown in FIG. 3, remote network management platform 320 includes fourcomputational instances 322, 324, 326, and 328. Each of thesecomputational instances may represent one or more server nodes operatingdedicated copies of the aPaaS software and/or one or more databasenodes. The arrangement of server and database nodes on physical serverdevices and/or virtual machines can be flexible and may vary based onenterprise needs. In combination, these nodes may provide a set of webportals, services, and applications (e.g., a wholly-functioning aPaaSsystem) available to a particular enterprise. In some cases, a singleenterprise may use multiple computational instances.

For example, managed network 300 may be an enterprise customer of remotenetwork management platform 320, and may use computational instances322, 324, and 326. The reason for providing multiple computationalinstances to one customer is that the customer may wish to independentlydevelop, test, and deploy its applications and services. Thus,computational instance 322 may be dedicated to application developmentrelated to managed network 300, computational instance 324 may bededicated to testing these applications, and computational instance 326may be dedicated to the live operation of tested applications andservices. A computational instance may also be referred to as a hostedinstance, a remote instance, a customer instance, or by some otherdesignation. Any application deployed onto a computational instance maybe a scoped application, in that its access to databases within thecomputational instance can be restricted to certain elements therein(e.g., one or more particular database tables or particular rows withinone or more database tables).

For purposes of clarity, the disclosure herein refers to the arrangementof application nodes, database nodes, aPaaS software executing thereon,and underlying hardware as a “computational instance.” Note that usersmay colloquially refer to the graphical user interfaces provided therebyas “instances.” But unless it is defined otherwise herein, a“computational instance” is a computing system disposed within remotenetwork management platform 320.

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320 is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, overwhich multi-instance architectures exhibit several advantages. Inmulti-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g.,enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers'data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by thesoftware that operates the single database. As a consequence, a securitybreach in this system may impact all customers' data, creatingadditional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental,healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any databaseoperations that impact one customer will likely impact all customerssharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware orsoftware errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, ifthe database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, itwill be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often,such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shareddatabase.

In contrast, the multi-instance architecture provides each customer withits own database in a dedicated computing instance. This preventscomingling of customer data, and allows each instance to beindependently managed. For example, when one customer's instanceexperiences an outage due to errors or an upgrade, other computationalinstances are not impacted. Maintenance down time is limited because thedatabase only contains one customer's data. Further, the simpler designof the multi-instance architecture allows redundant copies of eachcustomer database and instance to be deployed in a geographicallydiverse fashion. This facilitates high availability, where the liveversion of the customer's instance can be moved when faults are detectedor maintenance is being performed.

In some embodiments, remote network management platform 320 may includeone or more central instances, controlled by the entity that operatesthis platform. Like a computational instance, a central instance mayinclude some number of application and database nodes disposed upon somenumber of physical server devices or virtual machines. Such a centralinstance may serve as a repository for specific configurations ofcomputational instances as well as data that can be shared amongst atleast some of the computational instances. For instance, definitions ofcommon security threats that could occur on the computational instances,software packages that are commonly discovered on the computationalinstances, and/or an application store for applications that can bedeployed to the computational instances may reside in a centralinstance. Computational instances may communicate with central instancesby way of well-defined interfaces in order to obtain this data.

In order to support multiple computational instances in an efficientfashion, remote network management platform 320 may implement aplurality of these instances on a single hardware platform. For example,when the aPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as servercluster 200, it may operate virtual machines that dedicate varyingamounts of computational, storage, and communication resources toinstances. But full virtualization of server cluster 200 might not benecessary, and other mechanisms may be used to separate instances. Insome examples, each instance may have a dedicated account and one ormore dedicated databases on server cluster 200. Alternatively, acomputational instance such as computational instance 322 may spanmultiple physical devices.

In some cases, a single server cluster of remote network managementplatform 320 may support multiple independent enterprises. Furthermore,as described below, remote network management platform 320 may includemultiple server clusters deployed in geographically diverse data centersin order to facilitate load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

C. Public Cloud Networks

Public cloud networks 340 may be remote server devices (e.g., aplurality of server clusters such as server cluster 200) that can beused for outsourced computation, data storage, communication, andservice hosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., theservers may be virtual machines). Examples of public cloud networks 340may include AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® AZURE®. Like remotenetwork management platform 320, multiple server clusters supportingpublic cloud networks 340 may be deployed at geographically diverselocations for purposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

Managed network 300 may use one or more of public cloud networks 340 todeploy applications and services to its clients and customers. Forinstance, if managed network 300 provides online music streamingservices, public cloud networks 340 may store the music files andprovide web interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, theenterprise of managed network 300 does not have to build and maintainits own servers for these operations.

Remote network management platform 320 may include modules thatintegrate with public cloud networks 340 to expose virtual machines andmanaged services therein to managed network 300. The modules may allowusers to request virtual resources, discover allocated resources, andprovide flexible reporting for public cloud networks 340. In order toestablish this functionality, a user from managed network 300 mightfirst establish an account with public cloud networks 340, and request aset of associated resources. Then, the user may enter the accountinformation into the appropriate modules of remote network managementplatform 320. These modules may then automatically discover themanageable resources in the account, and also provide reports related tousage, performance, and billing.

D. Communication Support and Other Operations

Internet 350 may represent a portion of the global Internet. However,Internet 350 may alternatively represent a different type of network,such as a private wide-area or local-area packet-switched network.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the communication environment between managednetwork 300 and computational instance 322, and introduces additionalfeatures and alternative embodiments. In FIG. 4, computational instance322 is replicated across data centers 400A and 400B. These data centersmay be geographically distant from one another, perhaps in differentcities or different countries. Each data center includes supportequipment that facilitates communication with managed network 300, aswell as remote users.

In data center 400A, network traffic to and from external devices flowseither through VPN gateway 402A or firewall 404A. VPN gateway 402A maybe peered with VPN gateway 412 of managed network 300 by way of asecurity protocol such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) orTransport Layer Security (TLS). Firewall 404A may be configured to allowaccess from authorized users, such as user 414 and remote user 416, andto deny access to unauthorized users. By way of firewall 404A, theseusers may access computational instance 322, and possibly othercomputational instances. Load balancer 406A may be used to distributetraffic amongst one or more physical or virtual server devices that hostcomputational instance 322. Load balancer 406A may simplify user accessby hiding the internal configuration of data center 400A, (e.g.,computational instance 322) from client devices. For instance, ifcomputational instance 322 includes multiple physical or virtualcomputing devices that share access to multiple databases, load balancer406A may distribute network traffic and processing tasks across thesecomputing devices and databases so that no one computing device ordatabase is significantly busier than the others. In some embodiments,computational instance 322 may include VPN gateway 402A, firewall 404A,and load balancer 406A.

Data center 400B may include its own versions of the components in datacenter 400A. Thus, VPN gateway 402B, firewall 404B, and load balancer406B may perform the same or similar operations as VPN gateway 402A,firewall 404A, and load balancer 406A, respectively. Further, by way ofreal-time or near-real-time database replication and/or otheroperations, computational instance 322 may exist simultaneously in datacenters 400A and 400B.

Data centers 400A and 400B as shown in FIG. 4 may facilitate redundancyand high availability. In the configuration of FIG. 4, data center 400Ais active and data center 400B is passive. Thus, data center 400A isserving all traffic to and from managed network 300, while the versionof computational instance 322 in data center 400B is being updated innear-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both datacenters are active, may be supported.

Should data center 400A fail in some fashion or otherwise becomeunavailable to users, data center 400B can take over as the active datacenter. For example, domain name system (DNS) servers that associate adomain name of computational instance 322 with one or more InternetProtocol (IP) addresses of data center 400A may re-associate the domainname with one or more IP addresses of data center 400B. After thisre-association completes (which may take less than one second or severalseconds), users may access computational instance 322 by way of datacenter 400B.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network 300.As noted above, proxy servers 312 and user 414 may access computationalinstance 322 through firewall 310. Proxy servers 312 may also accessconfiguration items 410. In FIG. 4, configuration items 410 may refer toany or all of client devices 302, server devices 304, routers 306, andvirtual machines 308, any applications or services executing thereon, aswell as relationships between devices, applications, and services. Thus,the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical orvirtual device, or any application or service remotely discoverable ormanaged by computational instance 322, or relationships betweendiscovered devices, applications, and services. Configuration items maybe represented in a configuration management database (CMDB) ofcomputational instance 322.

As noted above, VPN gateway 412 may provide a dedicated VPN to VPNgateway 402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significantamount of traffic between managed network 300 and computational instance322, or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPNbetween these sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 that directly communicates via theVPN is assigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 may be assigned private IPaddresses (e.g., IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255or 192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand assubnets 10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. EXAMPLE DEVICE, APPLICATION, AND SERVICE DISCOVERY

In order for remote network management platform 320 to administer thedevices, applications, and services of managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320 may first determine what devices arepresent in managed network 300, the configurations and operationalstatuses of these devices, and the applications and services provided bythe devices, as well as the relationships between discovered devices,applications, and services. As noted above, each device, application,service, and relationship may be referred to as a configuration item.The process of defining configuration items within managed network 300is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitated at least in part byproxy servers 312.

For purposes of the embodiments herein, an “application” may refer toone or more processes, threads, programs, client modules, servermodules, or any other software that executes on a device or group ofdevices. A “service” may refer to a high-level capability provided bymultiple applications executing on one or more devices working inconjunction with one another. For example, a high-level web service mayinvolve multiple web application server threads executing on one deviceand accessing information from a database application that executes onanother device.

FIG. 5A provides a logical depiction of how configuration items can bediscovered, as well as how information related to discoveredconfiguration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remotenetwork management platform 320, public cloud networks 340, and Internet350 are not shown.

In FIG. 5A, CMDB 500 and task list 502 are stored within computationalinstance 322. Computational instance 322 may transmit discovery commandsto proxy servers 312. In response, proxy servers 312 may transmit probesto various devices, applications, and services in managed network 300.These devices, applications, and services may transmit responses toproxy servers 312, and proxy servers 312 may then provide informationregarding discovered configuration items to CMDB 500 for storagetherein. Configuration items stored in CMDB 500 represent theenvironment of managed network 300.

Task list 502 represents a list of activities that proxy servers 312 areto perform on behalf of computational instance 322. As discovery takesplace, task list 502 is populated. Proxy servers 312 repeatedly querytask list 502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task untiltask list 502 is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers 312 may be configured withinformation regarding one or more subnets in managed network 300 thatare reachable by way of proxy servers 312. For instance, proxy servers312 may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then,computational instance 322 may store this information in CMDB 500 andplace tasks in task list 502 for discovery of devices at each of theseaddresses.

FIG. 5A also depicts devices, applications, and services in managednetwork 300 as configuration items 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512. As notedabove, these configuration items represent a set of physical and/orvirtual devices (e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, orvirtual machines), applications executing thereon (e.g., web servers,email servers, databases, or storage arrays), relationshipstherebetween, as well as services that involve multiple individualconfiguration items.

Placing the tasks in task list 502 may trigger or otherwise cause proxyservers 312 to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discoverymay be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggeringevents (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at aparticular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning,classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discoveryinvolves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxyservers 312 to one or more devices in managed network 300. The responsesto these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers 312, andrepresentations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB 500. Thus, each phasecan result in more configuration items being discovered and stored inCMDB 500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers 312 may probe each IP address inthe specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determinethe general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IPaddress may indicate that a particular application is operating on thedevice that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify theoperating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 isopen, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system.Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing aUNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, thenthe device may be able to be further identified through the SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once thepresence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports havebeen discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB 500.

In the classification phase, proxy servers 312 may further probe eachdiscovered device to determine the version of its operating system. Theprobes used for a particular device are based on information gatheredabout the devices during the scanning phase. For example, if a device isfound with TCP port 22 open, a set of UNIX®-specific probes may be used.Likewise, if a device is found with TCP port 135 open, a set ofWINDOWS®-specific probes may be used. For either case, an appropriateset of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxy servers 312 tocarry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312 logging on, orotherwise accessing information from the particular device. Forinstance, if TCP port 22 is open, proxy servers 312 may be instructed toinitiate a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the particular device andobtain information about the operating system thereon from particularlocations in the file system. Based on this information, the operatingsystem may be determined. As an example, a UNIX® device with TCP port 22open may be classified as AIX®, HPUX, LINUX®, MACOS®, or SOLARIS®. Thisclassification information may be stored as one or more configurationitems in CMDB 500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers 312 may determine specificdetails about a classified device. The probes used during this phase maybe based on information gathered about the particular devices during theclassification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®,a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise, if a device wasclassified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probesmay be used. As was the case for the classification phase, anappropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxyservers 312 to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312reading information from the particular device, such as basicinput/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, networkinterface information, media access control address(es) assigned tothese network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular deviceand so on. This identification information may be stored as one or moreconfiguration items in CMDB 500.

In the exploration phase, proxy servers 312 may determine furtherdetails about the operational state of a classified device. The probesused during this phase may be based on information gathered about theparticular devices during the classification phase and/or theidentification phase. Again, an appropriate set of tasks may be placedin task list 502 for proxy servers 312 to carry out. These tasks mayresult in proxy servers 312 reading additional information from theparticular device, such as processor information, memory information,lists of running processes (applications), and so on. Once more, thediscovered information may be stored as one or more configuration itemsin CMDB 500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilizeSNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of runningprocesses or other application-related information, discovery maydetermine additional subnets known to the router and the operationalstate of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queuelength, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of theadditional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures.Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovereddevice, application, and service is available in CMDB 500. For example,after discovery, operating system version, hardware configuration, andnetwork configuration details for client devices, server devices, androuters in managed network 300, as well as applications executingthereon, may be stored. This collected information may be presented to auser in various ways to allow the user to view the hardware compositionand operational status of devices, as well as the characteristics ofservices that span multiple devices and applications.

Furthermore, CMDB 500 may include entries regarding dependencies andrelationships between configuration items. More specifically, anapplication that is executing on a particular server device, as well asthe services that rely on this application, may be represented as suchin CMDB 500. For example, suppose that a database application isexecuting on a server device, and that this database application is usedby a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus,if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it isclear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will beimpacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships betweenconfiguration items may be able to represent the services impacted whena particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration itemsmay be displayed on a web-based interface and represented in ahierarchical fashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing suchdependencies and relationships may be accomplished by way of thisinterface.

Furthermore, users from managed network 300 may develop workflows thatallow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiplediscovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user tochange the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX®devices in a single operation.

In order for discovery to take place in the manner described above,proxy servers 312, CMDB 500, and/or one or more credential stores may beconfigured with credentials for one or more of the devices to bediscovered. Credentials may include any type of information needed inorder to access the devices. These may include userid/password pairs,certificates, and so on. In some embodiments, these credentials may bestored in encrypted fields of CMDB 500. Proxy servers 312 may containthe decryption key for the credentials so that proxy servers 312 can usethese credentials to log on to or otherwise access devices beingdiscovered.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart in FIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the computational instance is populated, forinstance, with a range of IP addresses. At block 522, the scanning phasetakes place. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devicesusing these IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systemsthat are executing on these devices. At block 524, the classificationphase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operatingsystem version of the discovered devices. At block 526, theidentification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determinethe hardware and/or software configuration of the discovered devices. Atblock 528, the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attemptto determine the operational state and applications executing on thediscovered devices. At block 530, further editing of the configurationitems representing the discovered devices and applications may takeplace. This editing may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented in FIG. 5B are examples. Discovery may be ahighly configurable procedure that can have more or fewer phases, andthe operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one or more phasesmay be customized, or may otherwise deviate from the exemplarydescriptions above.

In this manner, a remote network management platform may discover andinventory the hardware, software, and services deployed on and providedby the managed network. As noted above, this data may be stored in aCMDB of the associated computational instance as configuration items.For example, individual hardware components (e.g., computing devices,virtual servers, databases, routers, etc.) may be represented ashardware configuration items, while the applications installed and/orexecuting thereon may be represented as software configuration items.

The relationship between a software configuration item installed orexecuting on a hardware configuration item may take various forms, suchas “is hosted on”, “runs on”, or “depends on”. Thus, a databaseapplication installed on a server device may have the relationship “ishosted on” with the server device to indicate that the databaseapplication is hosted on the server device. In some embodiments, theserver device may have a reciprocal relationship of “used by” with thedatabase application to indicate that the server device is used by thedatabase application. These relationships may be automatically foundusing the discovery procedures described above, though it is possible tomanually set relationships as well.

The relationship between a service and one or more softwareconfiguration items may also take various forms. As an example, a webservice may include a web server software configuration item and adatabase application software configuration item, each installed ondifferent hardware configuration items. The web service may have a“depends on” relationship with both of these software configurationitems, while the software configuration items have a “used by”reciprocal relationship with the web service. Services might not be ableto be fully determined by discovery procedures, and instead may rely onservice mapping (e.g., probing configuration files and/or carrying outnetwork traffic analysis to determine service level relationshipsbetween configuration items) and possibly some extent of manualconfiguration.

Regardless of how relationship information is obtained, it can bevaluable for the operation of a managed network. Notably, IT personnelcan quickly determine where certain software applications are deployed,and what configuration items make up a service. This allows for rapidpinpointing of root causes of service outages or degradation. Forexample, if two different services are suffering from slow responsetimes, the CMDB can be queried (perhaps among other activities) todetermine that the root cause is a database application that is used byboth services having high processor utilization. Thus, IT personnel canaddress the database application rather than waste time considering thehealth and performance of other configuration items that make up theservices.

V. EXAMPLE TROUBLESHOOTING TOOLS

As discussed above, remote network management platform 320 could providevarious software applications to enterprise customers. Examples mayinclude device and software discovery applications, service mappingapplications, IT operations and service management applications, andmachine learning applications. Further, in some embodiments, remotenetwork management platform 320 may allow users to incorporate customfunctionality into these software applications. This could involve auser modifying and/or updating a software application's source code(including program code, configuration, and support files) to includenew features, functions, and other aspects.

Sometimes, a software application provided by remote network managementplatform 320 has a “software defect” that causes the application toproduce unexpected behavior. Such defects could negatively affect usersof the software application. As such, upon discovering a softwaredefect, a user of the software application could submit a supportticket. The support ticket could describe the unexpected behavior of thesoftware application. An agent may be assigned to resolve the issueraised by the ticket. Thus, this agent may have to locate portions ofthe software application's source code that encompass the unexpectedbehavior. If the software application includes user-modified portions,the assigned agent may have to parse through the user-modified portionsof the source code as well as the “out of the box” portions of thesource code.

Since a majority of support tickets involve software defects located inuser-modified source code rather than “out of the box” source code, onestrategy that the assigned agent could consider is to find and examineonly user-modified portions of the source code. However, if the softwareapplication's source code is large and contains many user modifications,the process of locating the user-modified portions within the sourcecode may be unduly complicated.

To address these or other issues, remote network management platform 320may include a troubleshooting tool that can pinpoint user customizationsin a software application's source code. The troubleshooting tool couldtake the form of a background process, an executable application, or thelike. The disclosed troubleshooting tool could locate customizations insoftware applications executable by various computational instancesoperating within remote network management platform 320. For example,the troubleshooting tool could locate customizations in softwareapplications executable by computational instance 322, 324, and/or 326.For simplicity, examples will now be described using computationalinstance 322. However, the disclosed principles could apply in otherscenarios with other computational instances as well.

FIG. 6 depicts network architecture 600, in accordance with exampleembodiments. Network architecture 600 includes two main components,managed network 300 and remote network management platform 320, whichmay be communicatively connected by way of a network, such as Internet350.

Computational instance 322 may be disposed within remote networkmanagement platform 320 and may be dedicated to managed network 300.Computational instance 322 may store, in CMDB 500 (not shown),discovered configuration items that represent the environment of managednetwork 300. Additionally, computational instance 322 may include one ormore software applications, such as application 612 and application 614.These software applications could provide computing services to varioususers, such as users 610 and users 618. The software applications couldbe developed by remote network management platform 320 or could bedeveloped by a 3rd party. In example embodiments, the softwareapplications in computational instance 322 are comprised of one or moreapplication files.

FIG. 7 illustrates example application files, in accordance with exampleembodiments. In particular, FIG. 7 includes a call out of application612 from FIG. 6. The callout demonstrates how application 612 couldcontain four application files, application file 710, application file720, application file 730, and application file 740. Each of theseapplication files provide at least some of the functionality forapplication 612. For instance, application files 710 and 730 mayrepresent JavaScript functions that provide user interface elements forapplication 612. And application file 740 may represent a command shellscript that starts a build process for application 612. But, applicationfiles need not be executable. For example, application file 720 mayrepresent a text file, which could be used to seed a database used byapplication 612, or for other configuration purposes. In general, theseapplication files may contain any form of source code, object code,machine code, executable instructions, build instructions, configurationinstructions, or data that is used to compile and/or execute anapplication. The application files could be stored in a server devicedisposed within computational instance 322, a server device disposedwithin remote network management platform 320, and/or could be stored byway of a remote server device hosted by public cloud networks 340.Notably, application files 710, 720, 730, 740 are presented for thepurpose of example and are not intended to be limiting with respect tothe embodiments herein. In practice, application 612 could include afewer number of application files or a greater number of applicationfiles, perhaps even hundreds or thousands. Further, other types ofapplication files are also possible and are contemplated in thedisclosure herein.

Referring back to FIG. 6, computational instance 322 could also includemapping database 620. As further described below, mapping database 620may contain data related to application 612, application 614, andperhaps other software applications in computational instance 322. WhileFIG. 6 illustrates mapping database 620 disposed within computationalinstance 322, in other embodiments, mapping database 620 could bedisposed within remote network management platform 320 and sharedamongst multiple computational instances. In such embodiments, mappingdatabase 620 could contain data related to several software applicationsrunning in various computational instances.

Managed network 300 may be an enterprise network used by an entity forcomputing and communication tasks, as well as storage of data. Inexamples, managed network 300 may utilize one or more of the softwareapplications contained within computational instance 322.

Users 610 and users 618 can represent people or sources (e.g., anotherenterprise) that use software applications provided by computationalinstance 322. In example embodiments, users 610 may represent peoplethat work for the entity associated with managed network 300, such asengineers, scientists, managers, accountants, financial analysts, ITstaff, and so on, whereas users 618 may correspond to people outside ofthe entity associated with managed network 300. For simplicity, exampleswill be described using users 610. However, the disclosed principlescould apply in other scenarios with other users as well.

In line with the discussion above, occasionally, a software applicationprovided by computational instance 322 has a software defect that causesthe application to produce an unexpected result. Upon discovering asoftware defect, users 610 could submit a support ticket. To quicklyaddress such a ticket, an agent may be assigned to resolve the problemraised in the ticket, and may use the services of troubleshooting tool616 in doing so. This agent may be an IT staff member, a softwareengineer, a customer service engineer, or some other entity.

As noted, troubleshooting tool 616 could be configured to locateapplication files in the software application's source code that havebeen written by users 610. Troubleshooting tool 616 could display thoselocated application files in a logical manner, perhaps on a webapplication or graphical user interface. Accordingly, the agent coulduse troubleshooting tool 616 to efficiently locate portions in thesoftware application's source code that encompass the unexpectedbehavior experienced by users 610.

To perform its operations, troubleshooting tool 616 may be grantedaccess to data associated with software applications executable bycomputational instance 322. For example, troubleshooting tool 616 couldaccess to data related to application 612 and application 614. Forsimplicity, examples will now be described using application 612 anddata related to application 612. However, the disclosed principles couldapply in other scenarios with other software applications as well.

FIG. 8 illustrates data that troubleshooting tool 616 may use duringoperation, in accordance with example embodiments. Specifically, FIG. 8includes three sets of mappings: application file mappings 810,installation record mappings 830, and log record mappings 840. In someembodiments, application file mappings 810, installation record mappings830, and log record mappings 840 may take the form of database tables oncomputational instance 322, perhaps stored in mapping database 620 oranother database. In other embodiments, the three sets of mappings maytake on other forms, such as log files. Further, in other examples,application file mappings 810, installation record mappings 830, and logrecord mappings 840 can have more, fewer, and/or different types ofentries than indicated in FIG. 8.

Application file mappings 810 may include mappings between identifiersof application files and version indicators of those application files.In other words, each entry in application file mappings 810 associates agiven application file with a specific version of that application file.For example, entry 812 establishes that application file 710 has aversion 710_V3, entry 814 establishes that application file 710 has aversion 710_V2, and entry 816 establishes that application file 710 hasa version 710_V1. Similarly, entry 818 establishes that application file720 has a version 720_V1, entry 820 establishes that application file730 has a version 730_V1, and entry 822 establishes that applicationfile 740 has a version 740_V1. As used herein, a version of anapplication file is a particular form of the application file thatdiffers in certain respects from other forms of the application file.For example, version 710_V2 of application file 710 may contain somesimilarities (e.g., functions, variable names, etc.) with version 710_V3of application file 710, but may also contain some differences fromversion 710_V3 of application file 710.

A corresponding entry could be added to application file mappings 810each time a new application file (e.g., an application file that doesnot have any previous versions) is provided to computational instance322. For example, users 610 could create a new application file APP NEWby way of a web-based editor, and then may request that computationalinstance 322 save the new application file. Upon receiving the saverequest, computational instance 322 could cause application filemappings 810 to create a new entry that includes a mapping between APPNEW and a new version of APP NEW that includes the content created byusers 610. Notably, because APP NEW does not have previous versions, thenew version of APP NEW may be the first (and only) version of APP NEWreferenced by application file mappings 810.

A corresponding entry could also be added to application file mappings810 every time a modification is made to an existing application filereferenced by application file mappings 810. For example, users 610could make various modifications (e.g., adding and/or subtractingfunctions, variables, etc.) to version 710_V3 of application file 710 byway of a web-based editor, and then may request that computationalinstance 322 save their modifications. Upon receiving the save request,computational instance 322 could cause application file mappings 810 tocreate a new entry that includes a mapping between application file 710and a new version of application file 710, where the new versioncontains the contents of version 710_V3 of application file 710 inaddition to the modifications made by users 610. In some cases, theentry could be a representation of the difference itself, such as adelta between the two files.

While not shown in FIG. 8, application file mappings 810 could includeadditional fields, such as timestamp fields indicating when a particularversion of an application file was added, and/or text fields identifyingthe entity that added a particular version of an application file, amongother possibilities.

Installation record mappings 830 may include mappings betweenidentifiers of application files and records indicating a version ofthose application files that is part of a standardized release ofapplication 612. For example, entry 832 establishes that version 710_V1of application file 710 is part of a standardized release of application612. Similarly, entry 834 establishes that version 720_V1 of applicationfile 720 is part of the same standardized release of application 612,and entry 836 establishes that version 740_V1 of application file 740 ispart of the same standardized release of application 612. Installationrecord mappings 830 do not contain entries for application file 730.This means that application file 730 does not include a version that ispart of a standardized release of application 612.

As used herein, a standardized release of a software application refersto a version of the software application that is written by the entitythat developed the software application. For instance, if remote networkmanagement platform 320 developed application 612, then any version ofapplication 612 that is written by remote network management platform320 may be considered a standardized release. A software applicationcould have several standardized releases, each containing one or moreapplication file versions. For example, as shown in installation recordmappings 830, standardized release 1.1.0 of application 612 couldinclude version 710_V1 of application file 710 and standardized release1.1.1 of application 612 could include version 720_V1 of applicationfile 720 and version 740_V1 of application file 740. A version of anapplication file that is part of a standardized release may be referredherein to as a standardized release version of the application file. Insome cases, an application file may have more than one standardizedrelease version. For example, standardized release 1.1.0 of application612 could include version 710_V1 of application file 710 andstandardized release 1.1.1 of application 612 could include version710_V2 of application file 710. In such an example, installation recordmappings 830 may have multiple entries for application file 710.

A corresponding entry could be added to installation record mappings 830each time a standardized release version of an application file isinstalled onto computational instance 322. For example, remote networkmanagement platform 320 could install standardized release 1.1.0 ofapplication 612 onto computational instance 322. Standardized release1.1.0 of application 612 could include version 710_V1 of applicationfile 710. Thus, upon receiving the installation, computational instance322 could cause installation record mappings 830 to create a new entrythat includes a mapping between application file 710 and version 710_V1of application file 710.

While not shown in FIG. 8, installation record mappings 830 could alsoinclude additional fields, such as timestamp fields indicating when astandardized release version an application file was installed, and/ortext fields identifying the entity that installed a standardized releaseversion an application file, among other possibilities.

Log record mappings 840 may include mappings between version indicatorsof application files and records indicating that the correspondingapplication file versions were written after a standardized release ofapplication 612 was installed on computational instance 322. Forexample, entry 842 establishes that version 710_V3 of application file710 was written after a standardized release of application 612 wasinstalled on computational instance 322. Similarly, entry 844establishes that version 710_V2 of application file 710 was writtenafter a standardized release of application 612 was installed oncomputational instance 322, and entry 846 establishes that version720_V1 of application file 720 was written after a standardized releaseof application 612 was installed on computational instance 322. Logrecord mappings 840 do not contain entries for versions of applicationfiles 730 and 740. This means that application file 730 does not includea version that was written after a standardized release of application612 was installed on computational instance 322 and that applicationfile 740 does not include a version that was written after astandardized release of application 612 was installed on computationalinstance 322.

A corresponding entry could be added to log record mappings 840 everytime computational instance 322 receives a version of an applicationfile that was written after a standardized release of application 612was installed on computational instance 322. For instance, uponreceiving a version of an application file (perhaps via the web-basededitor described above), computational instance 322 could assign to theapplication file version a unique identifier and then evaluate whetherthe application file version was written after a standardized release ofapplication 612 was installed on computational instance 322. Ifcomputational instance 322 determines that the application file versionwas written after a standardized release of application 612 wasinstalled on computational instance 322, then computational instance 322cause log record mappings 840 to create a new entry that includes amapping between the unique identifier and the application file version.

Computational instance 322 could utilize various approaches whendetermining whether a given application file version was written after astandardized release of application 612 was installed on computationalinstance 322. In one example, if application 612 has one standardizedrelease, computational instance 322 could determine a timestampindicating when that one standardized release was installed ontocomputational instance 322. Accordingly, all application file versionswritten after that timestamp could be considered as being written aftera standardized release of application 612 was installed on computationalinstance 322.

On the other hand, if application 612 has a plurality of standardizedreleases, computational instance 322 could determine timestampsindicating when each of the plurality of standardized releases wasinstalled onto computational instance 322. Then, when evaluating whetheran application file version was written after a standardized release ofapplication 612 was installed on computational instance 322,computational instance 322 could base its evaluation on the earliesttimestamp for the plurality of standardized releases, the most recenttimestamp for the plurality of standardized releases, or possiblyanother timestamp.

In some embodiments, computational instance 322 could utilize differenttimestamps when evaluating different application files. For instance, ifapplication file 710 includes a version that is part of standardizedrelease 1.1.0 of application 612 and application file 720 includes aversion that is part of standardized release 1.1.1 of application 612,then computational instance 322 could use the timestamp for standardizedrelease 1.1.0 when evaluating whether a version of application file 710was written after a standardized release and could use the timestamp forstandardized release 1.1.1 when evaluating whether a version ofapplication file 712 was written after a standardized release.

Further, in scenarios where an application file has multiplestandardized release versions, computational instance 322 could base itsevaluation on the earliest timestamp from the multiple standardizedrelease versions, the most recent timestamp from the multiplestandardized release versions, or possibly another timestamp. Forexample, if application file 710 includes a version that is part ofstandardized release 1.1.0 of application 612 and also includes aversion that is part of standardized release 1.1.1 of application 612,then computational instance 322 could use the timestamp for standardizedrelease 1.1.0 or the timestamp for standardized release 1.1.1 whenevaluating whether a version of application file 710 was written after astandardized release of application 612 was installed onto computationalinstance 322.

While not shown in FIG. 8, log record mappings 840 could also includeadditional fields, such as timestamps fields indicating when a versionan application file was provided to computational instance 322, and/orand text fields indicating an entity that provided the new version ofthe application file, among other possibilities.

Application file mappings 810, installation record mappings 830, and logrecord mappings 840 can provide troubleshooting tool 616 withinformation to establish (i) a set of application files that providefunctionality for application 612 as well as various versions of thoseapplication files, (ii) which application files of application 612 haveversions that were written after a standardized release of application612 was installed on computational instance 322, and (iii) whichapplication files of application 612 have versions that were part of astandardized release of application 612.

Example operations of troubleshooting tool 616 are depicted as flowchart 900 in FIG. 9. At block 910, troubleshooting tool 616 could querylog record mappings 840 to determine a first subset of application filesthat have at least one version written after a standardized release ofapplication 612 was installed on computational instance 322. Then atblock 920, troubleshooting tool 616 could query installation recordmappings 830 to determine a second subset of application files that haveat least one version that was part of a standardized release ofapplication 612. In some embodiments, the first subset of applicationfiles includes a greater quantity of application files than the secondsubset of application files. In other embodiments, the first subset ofapplication files includes a fewer quantity of application files thanthe second subset of application files. Further, in someimplementations, the first subset of application files shares at leastone application file with the second subset of application files.

Using the results from block 910 and 920, troubleshooting tool 616 coulddetermine whether a given application file from the first subset ofapplication files has a version that was part of a standardized releaseof application 612. To do this, troubleshooting tool 616 could iteratethrough the first subset of application files and determine whether agiven application file in the first subset of application files is alsocontained in the second subset of application files. For example, atblock 930, troubleshooting tool 616 could let the variable N=1, and thenat block 940 troubleshooting tool 616 could determine whetherapplication file N from the first subset of application files is alsocontained in the second subset of application files. If troubleshootingtool 616 determines that application file N has a version that was partof a standardized release of application 612 (e.g., is also contained inthe second subset of application files), flow chart 900 may continue toblock 942. Otherwise, flow chart 900 may continue to block 944. In otherembodiments, troubleshooting tool 616 could perform a set intersectionoperation between the first subset of application files and the secondsubset of application files to determine whether a given applicationfile from the first subset of application files has a version that waspart of a standardized release of application 612. Other methods arealso possible.

At block 942, troubleshooting tool 616 may compute a textual differencebetween a most recent version of application file N and a standardizedrelease version of application file N. In example embodiments, the mostrecent version of application file N could be a version of applicationfile N that has a most recent timestamp. Further, the standardizedrelease version of application file N could be a version of applicationfile N that was most recently (as determined by timestamp) installed byremote network management platform 320 onto computational instance 322.At block 944, troubleshooting tool 616 may determine a most recentversion of application file N.

At block 950, troubleshooting tool 616 could let N=N+1. Then at block960, troubleshooting tool 616 could determine whether N is greater thanthe number of application files in the first subset of applicationfiles. If troubleshooting tool 616 determines that N is greater than thenumber of application files in the first subset of application files,then flow chart 900 may continue to block 970. Otherwise, flow chart 900may loop back to block 940.

A block 970, troubleshooting tool 616 may provide a list of results. Thelist could include results from the computations at block 942 as well asresults from the computations at block 944.

Note that the blocks represented in FIG. 9 are used for the purpose ofexample and are not intended to be limiting with respect to theembodiments herein. The operations of troubleshooting tool 616 may behighly configurable and may include more blocks, fewer blocks, ordifferent blocks than those depicted in flow chart 900. In some cases,one or more blocks may be customized, reordered, or may otherwisedeviate from the exemplary description above. For example, in someembodiments, computing the textual difference at block 942 anddetermining the most recent version of application file N at block 944may occur after providing the list of results at block 970.

After using the process illustrated in flow chart 900, troubleshootingtool 616 could display the results from block 970 is a logically mannerso as to allow the assigned agent to view a list of all applicationfiles associated with application 612. For example, troubleshooting tool616 could display the results by way of a web page or series of webpages hosted by computational instance 322 to the assigned agent uponrequest. Notably, the following examples of web pages are merely forpurposes of illustration and not intended to be limiting. Other webpages including alternative arrangements of information may exist.

FIG. 10A illustrates web page 1000, in accordance with exampleembodiments. Web page 1000 includes a visual listing 1002 of applicationfiles that provide at least some functionality to application 612. Asshown, each record in visual listing 1002 includes a corresponding entryfor created column 1004, last modified column 1006, updated by column1008, class column 1010, and display name column 1012.

Created column 1004 provides a timestamp indicating when a givenapplication file from visual listing 1002 was created. In line with thediscussion above, application files may be created by users 610 or by anentity that developed application 612. If users 610 create anapplication file, then a corresponding entry in created column 1004would indicate the date that users 610 provided the application file tocomputational instance 322. On the other hand, if the entity thatdeveloped application 612 creates the application file, then acorresponding entry in created column 1004 would indicate the date thatthe entity installed the application file onto computational instance322. In FIG. 10A, application file 1014 is shown to be created on“2019-11-15”, application file 1016 is also shown to be created on“2019-11-15”, and application file 1018 is shown to be created on“2020-1-20”.

Last modified column 1006 provides a timestamp indicating when a givenapplication file from visual listing 1002 was last modified. In linewith the discussion above, application files may be modified by users610. Thus, if users 610 modify an application file, a correspondingentry in last modified column 1006 would indicate the date that users610 provided the modified application file to computational instance322. On the other hand, if an application file has not been modified byusers 610, the corresponding entry in last modified column 1006 for thatapplication file may mirror the entry in created column 1004, becausethe last time the application file was modified would be the same timeas when the application file was created. In FIG. 10A, application file1014 is shown to be last modified on 2019-11-15, application file 1016is shown to be last modified on 2019-12-30, and application file 1018 isshown to be last modified on 2020-1-20.

Updated by column 1008 provides a username indicating an entity thatlast updated (e.g., either created or modified) a given application filefrom visual listing 1002. For example, application file 1014 is shown tobe last updated by the entity “admin”, application file 1016 is shown tobe last updated by the entity “user 222”, and application file 1018 isshown to be last updated by the entity “user 123”.

Class column 1010 provides a technical group for a given applicationfile from visual listing 1002. For example, application file 1014 isshown to be an “access control” file, application file 1016 is shown tobe a “dictionary entry” file, and application file 1018 is also shown tobe an “access control” file.

Display name column 1012 provides a display name for a given applicationfile in visual listing 1002. For example, application file 1014 has adisplay name “access.js”, application file 1016 has a display name“passwords.sql”, and application file 1018 has a display name“security.js”.

In some embodiments, web page 1000 may provide a series of graphicaltabs that can be clicked or otherwise selected by a user. In suchembodiments, selecting one of these graphical tabs may cause web page1000 to rearrange its information and/or filter the application files invisual listing 1002. For example, clicking one of these tabs may causeweb page 1000 to filter the application files in visual listing 1002such that only “new” application files (e.g., application files thatwere created by users 610) are listed. As another example, clicking oneof these tabs may cause web page 1000 to filter the application files invisual listing 1002 such that only “modified” application files (e.g.,application files that were written after a standardized release ofapplication 612 was installed) are listed. Other types of tabs withother functionality may also exist.

In some cases, a user may view additional information related to eachapplication file from visual listing 1002. For example, if the userclicks on or otherwise selects application file 1014, the user may bedirected to a web page that enables the user to view application file1014 in its original state and in a customized state, with differencesbetween the two states highlighted to pinpoint changes that have beenmade to application file 1014.

An example of such a web page is illustrated in FIG. 10B. Web page 1020includes original state view 1022 of an application file on the leftside and customized state view 1024 of an application file on the rightside. The differences between original state view 1022 and customizedstate view 1024 are highlighted. In example embodiments, original stateview 1022 may correspond to a standardized release version of theapplication file that was most recently (as determined by timestamp)installed by remote network management platform 320. Further, thecustomized state view 1024 may correspond to a most recent version (asdetermined by timestamp) of the application file. In some embodiments,if the application file does not have a version that was part of astandardized release of application 612, web page 1020 may just displaythe customized state view 1024. In other embodiments, if the applicationfile does not have a version that was written after a standardizedrelease of the software application was installed on computationalinstance 322, web page 1020 may just display original state view 1022.

FIG. 11 depicts message flow 1100, in accordance with exampleembodiments. In particular, message flow 1100 illustrates howtroubleshooting tool 616 can use mappings in mapping database 620 todisplay various application files related to application 612. By way ofexample, message flow 1100 may involve users 610, mapping database 620,remote network management platform 320, and troubleshooting tool 616.However, additional components, steps, or blocks, may be added tomessage flow 1100 without departing from the embodiments herein.Furthermore, troubleshooting tool 616 may be part of or hosted on remotenetwork management platform 320.

At step 1102, a standardized release of application 612 is installedonto remote network management platform 320, perhaps onto computationalinstance 322. In line with the discussion above, the standardizedrelease could include one or more application files that are written bythe entity that developed application 612. Example entities couldinclude remote network management platform 320 or a 3rd partyapplication developer, among other possibilities. In some embodiments,step 1102 could be initiated by the entity that developed application612. In others embodiments, step 1102 could be initiated manually; thatis, an administrator or other authorized personnel associated withremote network management platform 320 (perhaps from managed network300) could request a standardized release installation of application612. At step 1104, remote network management platform 320 could updateone or more mappings in mapping database 620. Namely, remote networkmanagement platform 320 could update the entries in application recordmappings 810 and installation record mappings 830 to include the one ormore application file versions that were installed at step 1102.

At step 1106, users 610 could update one or more of the applicationfiles of application 612. This could be accomplished by way of a webpage or series of web pages hosted by remote network management platform320 (e.g., via computational instance 322) and provided to users 610upon request. Using these web pages, users 610 could make updates to theapplication files and then could transmit those updates back to remotenetwork management platform 320. At step 1108, remote network managementplatform 320 could update one or more mappings in mapping database 620.Namely, remote network management platform 320 could update the entriesin application record mappings 810 and log record mappings 840 toinclude the application file updates received at step 1106.

At step 1110, users 610 could create one or more new application filesto provide new functionality to application 612. Similar to step 1106,this could be accomplished by way of a web page or series of web pageshosted by remote network management platform 320 and provided to users610 upon request. Using the web pages, users 610 could create newapplication files and then could transmit those new application files toremote network management platform 320. At step 1112, remote networkmanagement platform 320 could update one or more mappings in mappingdatabase 620. Namely, remote network management platform 320 couldupdate the entries in application record mappings 810 and log recordmappings 840 to include the new application files received at step 1110.

At step 1114, troubleshooting tool 616 may request and receive data frommapping database 620, in particular entries in application recordmappings 810, installation record mappings 830, and log record mappings840. This may be accomplished in various ways. For instancetroubleshooting tool 616 could submit a SQL query to mapping database620. Alternatively and/or additionally, troubleshooting tool 616 couldsubmit a request (e.g. a representative state transfer (REST) request)to an application programming interface (API) endpoint associated withmapping database 620. Other examples are also possible. At step 1116,troubleshooting tool 616 could utilize the data received at step 1114 todetermine a first subset of application files that have at least oneversion written after a standardized release of application 612 wasinstalled, a second subset of application files that have at least oneversion that was part of a standardized release of application 612, andwhether a given application file in the first subset of applicationfiles is also contained in the second subset of application files. Thiscould be accomplished, for example, via the process outlined in FIG. 9.

In some embodiments, troubleshooting tool 616 may repeat the operationsof steps of 1114 and 1116. For example, troubleshooting tool 616 mayrepeat the operations of steps of 1114 and 1116 at regularly occurringtime intervals, such as every minute, every hour, and so on. As anotherexample, troubleshooting tool 616 may repeat the operations of steps of1114 and 1116 in response to an event occurring at application 612, sucha standardized release being installed for application 612, anapplication file update being provided by users 610 to application 612,or on demand among other possibilities.

At step 1118, troubleshooting tool 616 may display, on a GUI, theinformation determined at step 1116. This could be accomplished, forexample, via the web pages outlined in FIGS. 10A-10B.

VI. EXAMPLE OPERATIONS

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment. The processillustrated by FIG. 12 may be carried out by a computing device, such ascomputing device 100, and/or a cluster of computing devices, such asserver cluster 200. However, the process can be carried out by othertypes of devices or device subsystems. For example, the process could becarried out by a computational instance of a remote network managementplatform or a portable computer, such as a laptop or a tablet device.

The embodiments of FIG. 12 may be simplified by the removal of any oneor more of the features shown therein. Further, these embodiments may becombined with features, aspects, and/or implementations of any of theprevious figures or otherwise described herein.

Block 1200 involves determining, based on a second set of mappings, thatan application file referenced by a third set of mappings has a versionthat was in a standardized release of a software application. Thesoftware application is executable by a computational instance. Thecomputational instance includes persistent storage. The persistentstorage contains a first set of mappings between identifiers ofapplication files related to the software application and versionindicators of the application files. The persistent storage alsocontains the second set of mappings. The second set of mappings includemappings between the identifiers of the application files and a firstsubset of the version indicators, where the standardized release of thesoftware application includes versions of the application files inaccordance with the first subset of the version indicators. Thepersistent storage further contains the third set of mappings. The thirdset of mappings include mappings between a second subset of the versionindicators and records indicating that the corresponding applicationfile versions have been written to the persistent storage after thestandardized release of the software application was installed on thecomputational instance.

Block 1210 involves responsive to determining that the application filedoes include a version that was in the standardized release of thesoftware application, providing, based on the first set of mappings, adifference between a most recent version of the application file and theversion of the application file that was part of the standardizedrelease.

In some embodiments, providing the difference includes generating, fordisplay on a graphical user interface, a representation of the mostrecent version of the application file and a representation of theversion of the application file that was part of the standardizedrelease, and transmitting the representations as generated to a clientdevice. Further, in such embodiments, the difference between the mostrecent version of the application file and the version of theapplication file that was part of the standardized release is marked tobe highlighted on the graphical user interface.

Some embodiments may involve determining, based on the second set ofmappings, that a second application file of the application filesreferenced by the third set of mappings does not include any versionthat was in the standardized release of the software application; andresponsive to determining that the second application file does notinclude any version that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication, providing, based on the first set of mappings, the mostrecent version of the second application file.

In some embodiments, providing the most recent version of the secondapplication file includes generating, for display on a graphical userinterface, a representation of the most recent version of the secondapplication file and transmitting the representation as generated to aclient device.

Some embodiments may involve receiving, from the remote networkmanagement platform and for installation on the computational instance,the standardized release of the software application; determiningversions of the application files that are part of the standardizedrelease; updating the first set of mappings to include mappings betweenidentifiers of application files that are part of the standardizedrelease and version indicators for the application files that are partof the standardized release; and updating the second set of mappings toinclude mappings between the identifiers of application files that arepart of the standardized release and the version indicators for theapplication files that are part of the standardized release.

Some embodiments involve receiving, by way of a web-based editor, amodification to a particular application file referenced in the firstset of mappings, where the modification creates a new version of theparticular application file. Such embodiments may further involveupdating the first set of mappings to include a new mapping between anidentifier for the particular application file and a version indicatorfor the new version of the particular application file; and updating thethird set of mappings to include a new mapping between the versionindicator for the new version of the particular application file and arecord indicating that the new version of the particular applicationfile has been written to the persistent storage after the standardizedrelease of the software application was installed on the computationalinstance.

In some embodiments, a plurality of standardized releases of thesoftware application were installed onto the computational instance,each respective standardized release including a timestamp indicatingwhen the respective standardized release was installed onto thecomputational instance. In such embodiments, determining that theapplication file does include a version that was in the standardizedrelease of the software application may involve determining that theapplication file includes a version that was written after a most recenttimestamp amongst the plurality of standardized releases.

In some embodiments, a system may include means for determining, basedon a second set of mappings, that an application file referenced by athird set of mappings has a version that was in a standardized releaseof a software application. The software application is executable by acomputational instance. The computational instance includes persistentstorage. The persistent storage contains a first set of mappings betweenidentifiers of application files related to the software application andversion indicators of the application files. The persistent storage alsocontains the second set of mappings. The second set of mappings includemappings between the identifiers of the application files and a firstsubset of the version indicators, where the standardized release of thesoftware application includes versions of the application files inaccordance with the first subset of the version indicators. Thepersistent storage further contains the third set of mappings. The thirdset of mappings include mappings between a second subset of the versionindicators and records indicating that the corresponding applicationfile versions have been written to the persistent storage after thestandardized release of the software application was installed on thecomputational instance. The system may also include means for,responsive to determining that the application file does include aversion that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication, providing, based on the first set of mappings, a differencebetween a most recent version of the application file and the version ofthe application file that was part of the standardized release.

VII. CLOSING

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuseswithin the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The above detailed description describes various features and operationsof the disclosed systems, devices, and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. The example embodiments described herein and inthe figures are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can beutilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readilyunderstood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generallydescribed herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged,substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

With respect to any or all of the message flow diagrams, scenarios, andflow charts in the figures and as discussed herein, each step, block,and/or communication can represent a processing of information and/or atransmission of information in accordance with example embodiments.Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exampleembodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, operationsdescribed as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests,responses, and/or messages can be executed out of order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved. Further, more or fewer blocksand/or operations can be used with any of the message flow diagrams,scenarios, and flow charts discussed herein, and these message flowdiagrams, scenarios, and flow charts can be combined with one another,in part or in whole.

A step or block that represents a processing of information cancorrespond to circuitry that can be configured to perform the specificlogical functions of a herein-described method or technique.Alternatively or additionally, a step or block that represents aprocessing of information can correspond to a module, a segment, or aportion of program code (including related data). The program code caninclude one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical operations or actions in the method ortechnique. The program code and/or related data can be stored on anytype of computer readable medium such as a storage device including RAM,a disk drive, a solid state drive, or another storage medium.

The computer readable medium can also include non-transitory computerreadable media such as computer readable media that store data for shortperiods of time like register memory and processor cache. The computerreadable media can further include non-transitory computer readablemedia that store program code and/or data for longer periods of time.Thus, the computer readable media may include secondary or persistentlong term storage, like ROM, optical or magnetic disks, solid statedrives, or compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. Thecomputer readable media can also be any other volatile or non-volatilestorage systems. A computer readable medium can be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.

Moreover, a step or block that represents one or more informationtransmissions can correspond to information transmissions betweensoftware and/or hardware modules in the same physical device. However,other information transmissions can be between software modules and/orhardware modules in different physical devices.

The particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments can includemore or less of each element shown in a given figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements can be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexample embodiment can include elements that are not illustrated in thefigures.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purpose ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: persistent storage disposedwithin a computational instance of a remote network management platformand containing: (i) a first set of mappings between identifiers ofapplication files and version indicators of the application files,wherein the application files are related to a software application thatis executable by the computational instance, (ii) a second set ofmappings between the identifiers of the application files and a firstsubset of the version indicators, wherein a standardized release of thesoftware application that was installed on the computational instanceincludes versions of the application files in accordance with the firstsubset of the version indicators, and (iii) a third set of mappingsbetween a second subset of the version indicators and records indicatingthat the corresponding application file versions have been written tothe persistent storage after the standardized release of the softwareapplication was installed on the computational instance; and one or moreprocessors disposed within the computational instance and configured toperform operations comprising: determining, based on the second set ofmappings, that an application file of the application files referencedby the third set of mappings has a version that was in the standardizedrelease of the software application, and responsive to determining thatthe application file does include the version that was in thestandardized release of the software application, providing, based onthe first set of mappings, a difference between a most recent version ofthe application file and the version of the application file that waspart of the standardized release.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theproviding the difference comprises: generating, for display on agraphical user interface, a representation of the most recent version ofthe application file and a representation of the version of theapplication file that was part of the standardized release; andtransmitting the representations as generated to a client device.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the difference between the most recentversion of the application file and the version of the application filethat was part of the standardized release is marked to be highlighted onthe graphical user interface.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining, based on the second set ofmappings, that a second application file of the application filesreferenced by the third set of mappings does not include any versionthat was in the standardized release of the software application; andresponsive to determining that the second application file does notinclude any version that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication, providing, based on the first set of mappings, the mostrecent version of the second application file.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the providing the most recent version of the second applicationfile comprises: generating, for display on a graphical user interface, arepresentation of the most recent version of the second applicationfile; and transmitting the representation as generated to a clientdevice.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving, from the remote network management platform and forinstallation on the computational instance, the standardized release ofthe software application; determining versions of the application filesthat are part of the standardized release; updating the first set ofmappings to include mappings between identifiers of application filesthat are part of the standardized release and version indicators for theapplication files that are part of the standardized release; andupdating the second set of mappings to include mappings between theidentifiers of application files that are part of the standardizedrelease and the version indicators for the application files that arepart of the standardized release.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, by way of a web-based editor, amodification to a particular application file referenced in the firstset of mappings, wherein the modification creates a new version of theparticular application file; updating the first set of mappings toinclude a new mapping between an identifier for the particularapplication file and a version indicator for the new version of theparticular application file; and updating the third set of mappings toinclude a new mapping between the version indicator for the new versionof the particular application file and a record indicating that the newversion of the particular application file has been written to thepersistent storage after the standardized release of the softwareapplication was installed on the computational instance.
 8. The systemof claim 1, wherein a plurality of standardized releases of the softwareapplication were installed onto the computational instance, eachrespective standardized release including a timestamp indicating whenthe respective standardized release was installed onto the computationalinstance, and wherein determining that the application file does includea version that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication comprises determining that the application file includes aversion that was written after a most recent timestamp amongst theplurality of standardized releases.
 9. A computer-implemented methodcomprising determining, by one or more processors disposed in acomputational instance of a remote network management platform and basedon a second set of mappings, that an application file referenced by athird set of mappings has a version that was in a standardized releaseof a software application, wherein the software application isexecutable by the computational instance, wherein the computationalinstance includes persistent storage, the persistent storage containing:(i) a first set of mappings between identifiers of application filesrelated to the software application and version indicators of theapplication files, (ii) the second set of mappings, wherein the secondset of mappings include mappings between the identifiers of theapplication files and a first subset of the version indicators, whereinthe standardized release of the software application includes versionsof the application files in accordance with the first subset of theversion indicators, and (iii) the third set of mappings, and wherein thethird set of mappings include mappings between a second subset of theversion indicators and records indicating that the correspondingapplication file versions have been written to the persistent storageafter the standardized release of the software application was installedon the computational instance; and responsive to determining that theapplication file does include the version that was in the standardizedrelease of the software application, providing, by the one or moreprocessors and based on the first set of mappings, a difference betweena most recent version of the application file and the version of theapplication file that was part of the standardized release.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the providing thedifference comprises: generating, for display on a graphical userinterface, a representation of the most recent version of theapplication file and a representation of the version of the applicationfile that was part of the standardized release; and transmitting therepresentations as generated to a client device.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the difference betweenthe most recent version of the application file and the version of theapplication file that was part of the standardized release is marked tobe highlighted on the graphical user interface.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising: determining,based on the second set of mappings, that a second application file ofthe application files referenced by the third set of mappings does notinclude any version that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication; and responsive to determining that the second applicationfile does not include any version that was in the standardized releaseof the software application, providing, based on the first set ofmappings, the most recent version of the second application file. 13.The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the providing themost recent version of the second application file comprises:generating, for display on a graphical user interface, a representationof the most recent version of the second application file; andtransmitting the representation as generated to a client device.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving,from the remote network management platform for installation on thecomputational instance, the standardized release of the softwareapplication; determining versions of the application files that are partof the standardized release; updating the first set of mappings toinclude mappings between identifiers of application files that are partof the standardized release and version indicators for the applicationfiles that are part of the standardized release; and updating the secondset of mappings to include mappings between the identifiers ofapplication files that are part of the standardized release and theversion indicators for the application files that are part of thestandardized release.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,further comprising: receiving, by way of a web-based editor, amodification to a particular application file referenced in the firstset of mappings, wherein the modification creates a new version of theparticular application file; updating the first set of mappings toinclude a new mapping between an identifier for the particularapplication file and a version indicator for the new version of theparticular application file; and updating the third set of mappings toinclude a new mapping between the version indicator for the new versionof the particular application file and a record indicating that the newversion of the particular application file has been written to thepersistent storage after the standardized release of the softwareapplication was installed on the computational instance.
 16. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein a plurality ofstandardized releases of the software application were installed ontothe computational instance, each respective standardized releaseincluding a timestamp indicating when the respective standardizedrelease was installed onto the computational instance, and whereindetermining that the application file does include a version that was inthe standardized release of the software application comprisesdetermining that the application file includes a version that waswritten after a most recent timestamp amongst the plurality ofstandardized releases.
 17. An article of manufacture including anon-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon programinstructions that, upon execution by a one or more processors acomputational instance of a remote network management platform, causethe computational instance to perform operations comprising:determining, based on a second set of mappings, that an application filereferenced by a third set of mappings has a version that was in astandardized release of a software application, wherein the softwareapplication is executable by the computational instance, wherein thecomputational instance includes persistent storage, the persistentstorage containing: (i) a first set of mappings between identifiers ofapplication files related to the software application and versionindicators of the application files, (ii) the second set of mappings,wherein the second set of mappings include mappings between theidentifiers of the application files and a first subset of the versionindicators, wherein the standardized release of the software applicationincludes versions of the application files in accordance with the firstsubset of the version indicators, and (iii) the third set of mappings,and wherein the third set of mappings include mappings between a secondsubset of the version indicators and records indicating that thecorresponding application file versions have been written to thepersistent storage after the standardized release of the softwareapplication was installed on the computational instance; and responsiveto determining that the application file does include the version thatwas in the standardized release of the software application, providing,based on the first set of mappings, a difference between a most recentversion of the application file and the version of the application filethat was part of the standardized release.
 18. The article ofmanufacture of claim 17, wherein the providing the difference comprises:generating, for display on a graphical user interface, a representationof the most recent version of the application file and a representationof the version of the application file that was part of the standardizedrelease; and transmitting the representations as generated to a clientdevice.
 19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein thedifference between the most recent version of the application file andthe version of the application file that was part of the standardizedrelease is marked to be highlighted on the graphical user interface. 20.The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the operations furthercomprise: determining, based on the second set of mappings, that asecond application file of the application files referenced by the thirdset of mappings does not include any version that was in thestandardized release of the software application; and responsive todetermining that the second application file does not include anyversion that was in the standardized release of the softwareapplication, providing, based on the first set of mappings, the mostrecent version of the second application file.